Samuel Mead

Samuel Mead's career experience includes working as a cattle rancher.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Wyoming, and have spent my life solving problems. First as a rancher, and later as a distiller, business owner, mayor, and software engineer. In my experience, solving the most difficult problems requires the input of many different voices, and often the best insight comes from our most ardent critics. The challenges we face today will need to be solved not by one person, but by the combined efforts of experts, citizens, and fellow legislators. My campaign is about representation, and making sure that the divisions that have been sown need not be permanent. We can fix what is broken, step by step, and build a Wyoming we’re proud to leave to the next generation.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

We must protect our Public Lands. This is my first priority, because while other policy solutions to the challenges we face are urgent, selling our Public Lands to the highest bidder is a one way street, and once they are gone, they’re gone. Public Lands are part of what makes Wyoming such a special place, and they are also a key driver to one of our biggest segments of the state economy, tourism. Selling them to offset irresponsible Federal Spending is both shortsighted and counterproductive. Protecting these places for our children and future generations is not up for negotiation, and the message I send to Washington is this - Wyoming is not for sale.Healthcare in our country is a system collapsing. Besides the fact that the cost is becoming untenable for many of our people, it is a drag on the economy and contributes to another problem I’m concerned about, the Federal Deficit. I plan to improve the system, step by step, and it starts with the Insurer Communication Protocol (ICP). The ICP would create a secure, standardized way for patients, providers, and insurers to exchange healthcare records, pricing, coverage, and prior-authorization information across different systems. By making health data portable and transparent, it would reduce administrative waste, strengthen patient choice, help rural providers, and lay the groundwork for regional and eventually national insurance markets.Our republic was founded by visionary leaders who realized that checks on power would result in no one person being able to co-opt our nation for their own benefit. I still believe that this concept is the bedrock of our nation, but the failure of Congress to assume its role as the first and most important branch of government has resulted in the weakening of these checks on unfettered power. We must work together to solve our greatest challenges, and unless we elect leaders that are willing to work with all their fellow legislators, we will continue to have an ineffective government. The executive branch will fill that vacuum left by congress, and many of the dangers our founders sought to avoid will come back to haunt us.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I’m passionate about Public Lands, Healthcare, Energy development and Agriculture. These policies in particular will shape the future of Wyoming, and decide whether we build a Wyoming our children want to raise their children, or a Wyoming where you used to live. My philosophy is that a Wyoming Senator must deliver tangible results to the people of this state, and meaningfully improve their lives, so it only follows that I should focus most on the issues and policies that will affect the people of this state.